Miss-Delectable
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News-Record.com - Greensboro, North Carolina: : Letters from readers: 'My brother was in that building'
I remember that day as if it happened yesterday. What happened to the World Trade Center had such an impact on me for two reasons: One is that I am from Brooklyn, N.Y., and the other is that my brother, Robert, was on the 74th floor of the north tower, where the first plane hit.
I was home that day with my 10-year-old daughter, who had just had oral surgery. The phone rang, and it was one of my friends who said to turn on the TV. ... I knew something was terribly wrong. Why? ... On Feb. 26, 1993, my husband and brother were working at the World Trade Center when the bombs went off. One of my friends called me on the phone to turn on the TV. ... It was not until several hours later that I learned my husband was OK when he walked into the house. ... My parents called soon afterward with news that my brother got home safely.
Back to 9/11, when I turned on the TV and saw one of the twin towers in flames, I just broke down and cried. My brother was in that building, and I could not tell if his floor was above or below where the plane had hit. Then, a few minutes later on live TV, I watched the second plane hit the south tower. ...
After a few minutes, my phone rang again and it was my dad in Brooklyn, crying hysterically. It was difficult hearing him so upset and being so far away from him. I told him to hang up so we could free up the phone line in case my brother was trying to reach us.
Before I go on, let me say that my brother is deaf, thus he needed to depend on someone to make a phone call for him that day. ...
Finally, after several hours, my dad called to say my brother was safe! His supervisor was able to find a pay phone in mid town Manhattan to call his wife and give her all his co-workers’ phone numbers to call each family. It had taken her several hours to make the calls since the phone lines were tied up with so many people trying to call.
But we were still very worried because when she spoke with her husband, the twin towers had not yet gone down. We did not know whether Robert and his co-workers were near the WTC or away at a safe distance. So we waited several more hours until my brother called my dad via his telecommunication device for the deaf. ...
That evening, Robert shared stories of what he saw and felt that day. He will never be the same person because of what he experienced. Five days later, my brother called and asked if we could get together. He was staying at a friend’s house in Maryland to get away from NYC for a while. My family and I met Robert at Natural Bridge, Va. It was so emotional to see him and know what he went through.
He is still working for the same company, the Port Authority of NY/NJ, in New Jersey instead of Manhattan, a two-hour commute each way.
When the new World Trade Center is built, he said he will not return to work at ground zero. He has too many painful memories.
Since 9/11, my life has changed in so many ways. I still have many fond memories of the World Trade Center. When I was a little girl, I watched the construction workers build the twin towers. I also used to visit my dad in his office at the north tower.
When I was a college student, I brought friends from out of town to visit NYC and go up to the observation deck of the WTC.
For my parents’ 25th wedding anniversary, we had dinner at the Windows on the World, a fine restaurant on top of the WTC. When my kids were babies, I brought them to my husband’s office so he could show them off to his co-workers.
Each year on Sept. 11, I visit the D.H. Griffin Wrecking Co. where part of a steel support beam from the WTC is set up as a memorial. There, I lay flowers and say a few prayers for those who died and those who survived.
Karen De Naples,
High Point
I remember that day as if it happened yesterday. What happened to the World Trade Center had such an impact on me for two reasons: One is that I am from Brooklyn, N.Y., and the other is that my brother, Robert, was on the 74th floor of the north tower, where the first plane hit.
I was home that day with my 10-year-old daughter, who had just had oral surgery. The phone rang, and it was one of my friends who said to turn on the TV. ... I knew something was terribly wrong. Why? ... On Feb. 26, 1993, my husband and brother were working at the World Trade Center when the bombs went off. One of my friends called me on the phone to turn on the TV. ... It was not until several hours later that I learned my husband was OK when he walked into the house. ... My parents called soon afterward with news that my brother got home safely.
Back to 9/11, when I turned on the TV and saw one of the twin towers in flames, I just broke down and cried. My brother was in that building, and I could not tell if his floor was above or below where the plane had hit. Then, a few minutes later on live TV, I watched the second plane hit the south tower. ...
After a few minutes, my phone rang again and it was my dad in Brooklyn, crying hysterically. It was difficult hearing him so upset and being so far away from him. I told him to hang up so we could free up the phone line in case my brother was trying to reach us.
Before I go on, let me say that my brother is deaf, thus he needed to depend on someone to make a phone call for him that day. ...
Finally, after several hours, my dad called to say my brother was safe! His supervisor was able to find a pay phone in mid town Manhattan to call his wife and give her all his co-workers’ phone numbers to call each family. It had taken her several hours to make the calls since the phone lines were tied up with so many people trying to call.
But we were still very worried because when she spoke with her husband, the twin towers had not yet gone down. We did not know whether Robert and his co-workers were near the WTC or away at a safe distance. So we waited several more hours until my brother called my dad via his telecommunication device for the deaf. ...
That evening, Robert shared stories of what he saw and felt that day. He will never be the same person because of what he experienced. Five days later, my brother called and asked if we could get together. He was staying at a friend’s house in Maryland to get away from NYC for a while. My family and I met Robert at Natural Bridge, Va. It was so emotional to see him and know what he went through.
He is still working for the same company, the Port Authority of NY/NJ, in New Jersey instead of Manhattan, a two-hour commute each way.
When the new World Trade Center is built, he said he will not return to work at ground zero. He has too many painful memories.
Since 9/11, my life has changed in so many ways. I still have many fond memories of the World Trade Center. When I was a little girl, I watched the construction workers build the twin towers. I also used to visit my dad in his office at the north tower.
When I was a college student, I brought friends from out of town to visit NYC and go up to the observation deck of the WTC.
For my parents’ 25th wedding anniversary, we had dinner at the Windows on the World, a fine restaurant on top of the WTC. When my kids were babies, I brought them to my husband’s office so he could show them off to his co-workers.
Each year on Sept. 11, I visit the D.H. Griffin Wrecking Co. where part of a steel support beam from the WTC is set up as a memorial. There, I lay flowers and say a few prayers for those who died and those who survived.
Karen De Naples,
High Point